Metallic slides for facilitating the extending of table tops and the like



Feb. 3, 1959 Filed Nov. 20, 1956 E J. DOBBRATZ ETAL 0F TABLE TOPS ANDTHE LIKE METALLIC SLIfiES FOR FACILITATING THE EXTENDING 2 Sheets-Sheetl INVENTORS ALVIN M. ELLINGTON E DWARD J. DOBBRATZ ATTORNEYS E. J.DOBBRATZ ETAL 2,872,261

Feb. 3, 1959 METALLIC SLIDES FOR FACILITATING THE EXTENDING OF TABLETOPS AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 20, 1956 hm my w 3 r MN rt 3 K I. w mz m a 2 \w i M Q V .3 WM

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Z T A R B B O D w D R M D E United States Patent METALLIC SLIDES FORFACILITATING THE EX- TENDING 0F TABLE TOPS AND THE LIKE Edward J.Dobbratz and Alvin M. Ellington, Watertown,

Wis., assignors of one-fourth to Janet Ellington Dobbratz and one-fourthto Lois Forbes Ellington Application November 20, 1956, Serial No.623,475

7 Claims. (Cl. 311--71) This invention appertains to slides forextension tables and, more particularly, to metallic slides forfacilitating the extending of divided table tops and the like.

In the past, the majority of extensible slides for tables have been madeof wood but due to the fact that wood tends to split and warp and alsois quite expensive in this particular field, efforts have been made toutilize metallic slides in lieu of the wood slides. However, it has beenfound that metallic slides tend to twist and bend and do not hold upwell when extended. Further, they tend to bind and do not slide readilyor easily. The majority of slides have been cast from rather heavy metalin order to give the desired strength and rigidity and, of course,various castings must be made in different sizes to suit different sizesof tables depending on the immediate need.

While efforts have been made to utilize a thinner gauge metal, it hasbeen found necessary to reinforce the metal and the result has been anexpensive and complicated slide assembly. There is then a great need inthe art to provide a metallic slide of light gauge metal which will be,at the same time, strong and durable in use and will not twist, bend orbind and which may be easily fabricated to any given size desired.

Therefore, a primary object of our present invention is to provide ametallic table slide which may be fabricated from light gauge stockmetal, easily cut to the desired length and fabricated to form a strongand durable slide possessing all of the desired characteristics of awooden slide but being cheaper, stronger, lighter, easily fabricated andassembled and, of course, not subject to warping and deterioration suchas would be prevalent in a natural element.

Another important object of our invention is to provide an inside slideand an outer slide identical in structure formed [from an upper lengthand a lower length, each cut from a single length of stock material tothe desired size and joined by novel spacers and slide fastellers togive a strong slide rail structure having a longitudinal slide groovetherein.

Y A further object is to provide a novel spacer joining the. upper andlower lengths of each slide rail, which spacer not only serves toaccurately position the slide groove, but also acts as a stop member forthe slide.

.Still another object of our present invention is to provide a novelslide fastener secured at the opposite ends of the slide rails (i. e.from the spacer) and which also acts to join the rail sections together,cooperates with the spacer to form a stop for the slide rails and toaccurately position the slide groove.

: A further important object resides in forming our novel slide fastenerso that it will join the slide rails together in such a manner that thefriction and tension of the slide members may be adjusted and varied asde- ICC members having horizontal web portions adapted to be securedunder the table and providing these horizontal webs with chip grooves tocompensate for warping and chipping.

Another object of our invention resides in the easy and eflicient methodby which our slide assembly is fabricated, in that, each length of lightgauge material may be readily cut to size and then joined by theafore-mentioned spacers and slide fasteners to provide a slide assemblywhich will not bend when drawn apart and which is far superior to anyknown wood or metallic slide now on the market.

A still further object of our invention is to provide a simple,practical and reliable construction that is economical to manufacture,easy to assemble and positive in itsoperation.

- With the above and other objects in view which wil one of our novelslide assemblies in its extended position and illustrating the preferredpositions of our novel spacers and slide fasteners;

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal perspective view similar to Figurel of the drawings but showing our slide assembly in its closed position;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal horizontal sectional view on the same scaleas Figure 2 of the drawings but taken on the line 3-3 of Figure l of thedrawings looking in the direction of the arrows, showing the slideassembly in its extended position and illustrating therelative positionsof our novel spacers and slide fasteners;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 ofFigure 2 of the drawings and showing the, slide' assembly in its closedposition, again illustrating the cooperation of the spacers and slidefasteners;

Figure 5 is a transverse section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4 of thedrawings looking in the direction of the arrows and illustrating furtherdetails in the construction of our slide rails and novel spacers, theview being on a larger scale than Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a transverse section taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 4looking in the direction of the arrows, illustrating further details intheconstruction of our novel slide fasteners, the view being on the samescale as Fig: ure 5 of the drawings;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a modified form of our novel slidefasteners, and I Figure 8 is a similar perspective view of still afurther modification of our novel slide fastener.

Referring .now to the drawings in detail wherein similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,the letter A generally indicates one type of our improved slide assemblyand the same .include'sbroadly, an inner slide rail 10, a center section11 and an outer slide rail 12 and it should be noted that the inner rail10 and the outer rail 12 areidentically constructed except that theupper horizontal, fastening web 13 of each extends in oppositedirections. Preferably, our novel slide, assembly A is constructed oflight gauge metal from length of channel material and it is to beunderstoodv that we provide two slide assemblies for each table. a

Each slide rail 10 and 12 includes an upper channel length 14 ofL-shapeancl a lower channel length 15 of substantially L -shape joinedtogether by our novel spacer 16 and slide fastener 17 to form alongitudinally extend ing groove 18 in each slide rail. Obviously, it isvery important that the groove 18 be accurate throughout its entirelength and, therefore, our novel spacer 16 and slide fastener 17 areprovided with centrally positioned longitudinally extending bearingblocks 19 and 20, respectively. 'These bearing blocks are shown as beingformed integral with the respective spacers 16 or slide fastener 17 butcould be made as separate pieces welded or otherwise secured to the backfastening plates 30 and 30, respectively.

Incidentally, it should be noted that all of the spacers 16 areidentical in construction and that all of the fasteners 17 are likewiseidentical to one another. Further, attention is drawn to the fact thatthe bearing block 19 of the spacer 16 is only as wide as the thicknessof the gauge metal used, that is, as thick as the edge 21 of the channellengths of metal 14 and 15, While the hearing block 2% of the slidefastener 17 is as wide as two thicknesses of the metal lengths utilized.This is perhaps illustrated more clearly in Figures 3, 4, and 6 of thedrawings.

The center slide rail'section 11 is formed of upper and lower U-shapedchannel lengths 22 and 23, respectively, and these channel lengths arejoined together by two spacers 16 and two slide fasteners 17. Thespacers 16 are positioned at diametrically opposite corners of thecenter section 11 as clearly shown in Figure 3 of the drawings and theslide fasteners 17 are spaced inwardly from the spacers and alsodiametrically opposite one another. lncidentally, the spacers and. slidefasteners are secured to the various channel lengths 14, 15, 22 and 23by spot welding the back fastening plates 30, 30 to the vertical webs31, 32. The upper and lower edges 25 and 26 of the spacers 16 and slidefasteners 17 are spaced slightly from the horizontal webs 13, 27, 39 atsome distance as indicated by the numeral 24. This is due to the factthat the accurate positioning of the grooves 18 is accomplished by meansof the accuracy of the bearing blocks 1) and 2t and not by the upper andlower edges 25 and 26 of the spacers 16 and slide fasteners 17.

The upper channel lengths 14 of the inner rail and outer rail 12 areidentically formed and are generally L-shaped as shown and the upperhorizontal fastening webs 13 as well as the horizontal webs 27 of theU-shaped channel lengths 22 and 23 are each provided with a longitudinalextending chip groove 28, as shown. These grooves are particularlyimportant when the webs 13 are secured to a table T (note Figure 5) bymeans of the screws S in that any chipping of the wood or loosening ofthe veneer will be compensated for by the grooves 28 and no warping ordistortion of the table top will take place. Suitable holes 29 are, ofcourse, provided in the fastening webs 13 of the upper lengths 14 sothat they may be secured to opposite sections of the table T. Aspreviously mentioned, it should be understood that our novel slideassembly A is utilized in pairs, one on each side of the table.

For the particular construction of the spacers 16 and slide fasteners17, attention is again directed to Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6. Figure 6, inparticular, illustrates the novel construction of our slide fastener 17and, as shownyeach includes the back fastening plate 30 .of generallyrectangular shape to which is secured the centrally locatedlongitudinally extending bearing block 20. The plate 30 is, aspreviously brought out, spot welded to the vertical webs 31 and 32 atone end to join the upper channel length 14 with the lower channellength of the slide railsltl and 12, respectively, and each fastener isalso provided with a centrally positioned transverse aperture 33 throughwhich extends a bolt 34. Further, each bearing block 29 is provided witha pair of ears 35 in horizontal alignment adjacent opposite points ofthe aperture 33. The purpose of these ears 35 will be readily apparentas the description proceeds. In order to slidably secure the inner sliderail section It with the center rail section 11 and the outer railsection 12 with the center rail section 11, we provide each slidefastener 17 with a length of spring steel 36 through which one end ofthe bolt 34 extends. This spring steel tensioning member 36 is providedwith rounded bearing surfaces 37 at each end and it should be obviousthat by tightening the nut 38, the tension on the spring steel piece 36may be varied as desired and, therefore, the tension between the variousslide rail sections can be varied as desired. The spring steeltensioning member 36 is generally bowed longitudinally, as shown, but isformed of a rectangular length and extends between the raised ears sothat upon sliding of the various sections, the spring steel member 36will be held steady and will not turn,

in utilizing our novel slide assembly A, it should be readily apparentthat the inner slide rail 10 is fastened to the one half section of thetable top T and the outer slide rail 12 is fastened to the other halfsection of the table top and that an identical assembly A is secured inspaced relation on the other side of the table. The tension on thespring member 3. is then adjusted, as desired, so that the slides willfreely move in relation to one another but so that when the tableis-extended, the slide assembly will be steady and firm. When the slideassembly is extended, it will be in the position shown in Figures 1 and3 of the drawings and the bearing blocks 20 of our slide fasteners 17will act as stops to limit the extreme operative extension of theassembly A (note Figure 3). When the table is closed or the slideassembly moved to its inoperative closed position, the slide assembly Awill be in the position shown in Figures 2 and 4 of the drawings and thespacers 16 and slide fastener 17 will cooperate (i. e. the bearingblocks 19 and 20 will abut one another) and act as stops to limit theinner movement of the table.

Thus it can be seen that the upper lengths 14 of the slide rails 11 and12 are formed from single lengths of stock material, easily cut asdesired to fit the job at hand and that the lower lengths 15 of eachslide are formed from suitable lengths of stock material and may be cutto the desired length. Attention should also be directed to the factthat the lower web 39 of the channel lengths 15 are turned up to form alongitudinal flange 40 as shown. This is for the purpose of enabling ascrew driver to be inserted in the head of the screws S when fasteningor removing the slide assembly from the table. Obviously, if desired, inlieu of the turned up flanges 4t], suitable enlarged holes could be madein the webs 39 but we prefer to provide the flanges 40 in that not onlydo they facilitate the insertion of the screw driver but they lendstrength and rigidity to the lower channel length 15. We might add thatthe chip grooves 28 perform this dual purpose in that they also lendstrength to the channel lengths 14 and 23.

Our novel spacers 16 and slide fasteners 17 may be formed as solidblocks, as shown, or they may be readily stamped from various types ofmetal and also may be provided in different sizes and shapes. If theslide fasteners were stamped from thin gauge metal, the bearing surfacescould be formed by merely stamping out portions of metal for thispurpose.

In Figures 7 and 3, however, we have shown two modifications of thesolid block type of slide fasteners. In Figure 7, the slide fastener 41is formed with a back fastening plate 42 and four spaced lugs 43, thelongitudinal fiat surface 44 of which forms the bearing surface andgroove positioner and this form of the invention has an modification,the back fastening plate 45 is provided with vertical narrow spacedbearing blocks 46 and these blocks accomplish the same purpose as thelugs 43 would accomplish in Figure 7.

While, we have stressed a table slide including inner and outer sectionsand 12 and one or more intermediate or center slide sections 11, it isto be understood that where a table is desired having a relatively smallseparation for receiving one table leaf, it will be only necessary toutilize an inner and an outer slide section and the intermediate orcenter slide section can eliminated.

From the foregoing, it is believed that the features and advantages ofour invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art andit will, of course, be understood that changes in the form, proportionand minor details of construction may be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A slide assembly for extension tables comprising inner and outerrails and at least one intermediate rail, all of said rails beingfabricated from metal structural units and each including upper andlower spaced longitudinally extending sections having a horizontal weband a vertical web, each respective metal structural unit being uniformin shape throughout its entire length, whereby any portion of said unitmay be cut and utilized depending on the desired length of sliderequired, plates rigidly uniting the upper and lower sections of therails together with their vertical webs accurately spaced to defineslide slots, and slide blocks carried by certain plates extending intothe slots of adjacent rails and engaging the facing edges of the slotsto slidably connect said rails together.

2. A slide assembly for extension tables as defined in claim 1, and saidplates defining stop members to limit the extension of said rails.

3. A slide assembly for extension tables as defined in claim 1, andslide members carried by said certain plates engaging faces of thevertical webs of said adjacent rails.

4. A slide assembly for extension tables as defined in claim 1, andtension slide members carried by the said certain plates engaging facesof the vertical webs of said adjacent rails, and means for adjusting thetension of said slide members.

5. A slide assembly for extension tables comprising an inner slide rail,a center rail, and an outer slide rail, each rail including an upper anda lower length of light gauge metal, each length having a horizontal weband a vertical web, each respective length of gauge metal being uniformin shape throughout its entire length, whereby any portion eludingbearing surfaces extending into a groove of an adjacent rail forslidably engaging the facing edges of the groove thereof for joiningsaid rails together and cooperating with said spacer to provide a stoplimiting the length of slide of each rail.

6. A slide assembly for extension tables as defined in claim 5, andtension means carried by the slide fasteners engaging faces of verticalwebs of adjacent rails.

7. A slide assembly for extension tables comprising inner and outerslide rails and at least one intermediate rail, each inner and outerrail including an upper and a lower length of metal of an angle shape incross section with vertically positioned webs, said intermediate railincluding upper and lower lengths of a U-shape in cross section andincluding inwardly extending vertical webs, each respective length ofgauge metal being uniform in shape throughout its entire length, wherebyany portion of said gauge metal may be cut and utilized depending on thedesired length of slide required, a series of spacers each having afastening plate secured to the vertical webs of the upper and lowerlengths of said rails, a series of slide fasteners each having afastening plate secured to said vertical webs at the opposite endsthereof from the first mentioned spacers and spaced inwardly therefromto provide a longitudinally extending slide groove in each rail, andmeans on said slide fasteners including spaced bearing surfacesextending into a groove of an adjacent rail for slidably engaging thefacing edges of a groove thereof and cooperating with said firstmentioned spacers to provide stops limiting the length of slide of eachrail.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,099,776 Stonesifer June 9, 1914 1,130,167 Ingleis Mar. 2, 19151,191,159 Cunningham July 18, 1916 1,526,506 Schilling Feb. 17, 19252,187,067 Yow Jan. 16, 1940 2,414,959 Lowe c- Jan. 28, 1947 2,626,195Walter Jan. 20, 1953 2,629,642 Whallon Feb. 24, 1953

